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Anna Maria van Schurman

Self Portrait, 1633

Description

Maker

  • Anna Maria van Schurman, 1607-1678, Dutch

Title

Self Portrait

Year

1633

Medium

Engraving, trimmed along and within platemark

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving

Supports

  • laid paper | mat

Dimensions

Sheet: 16.6 x 15 cm (6 9/16 x 5 7/8 inches)

Identification

Edition

166/7?

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

2002.30

Projects & Publications

Publications

The Brilliant Line

Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Read Online

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Anna Maria van Schurman was a poet and scholar as well as a visual artist, for whom engraving was one of many artistic pursuits including painting and engraving calligraphy on glass with a diamond. She learned to engrave from the professional engraver Magdalena van de Passe in Utrecht.

Van Schurman was remarkably erudite (she was the first female student at the University of Utrecht) and was celebrated by male intellectuals in her time for her knowledge of several languages. She published an essay on the education of women: her conclusion was that women should be educated in all matters if it did not interfere with their domestic duties, a radical position at the time. She saw engraving and other arts as a means by which a virtuous woman could occupy idle time. Here, she presents herself as a learned lady (composing a legend in Latin) who is also modest. The legend reads: “No pride or beauty prompted me to engrave my features in the unforgiving copper; but [it was] because my un-practiced graver was not yet capable of producing good work, [and] I would not have risked a weightier task the first time.”

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Self Portrait with the accession number of 2002.30. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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